


The Day the Earth Turned Upside Down

by LuxKen27



Series: The Best Friends You'll Ever Have [16]
Category: Baby-Sitters Club - Ann M. Martin
Genre: Community: babysitters100, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-27
Updated: 2014-12-27
Packaged: 2018-03-03 18:57:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2867684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LuxKen27/pseuds/LuxKen27
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Charlie Thomas is nothing if not persistent.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Day the Earth Turned Upside Down

**Author's Note:**

  * For [baseballchica03](https://archiveofourown.org/users/baseballchica03/gifts).



> Written for baseballchica03, for the 2014 fandom_stocking holiday exchange on DW. Further author's notes can be found [here](http://luxken27.dreamwidth.org/755123.html).
> 
> DISCLAIMER: The _Baby-sitters Club_ concept, storyline, and characters are © 1986 – 2000 Ann M. Martin/Scholastic Corporation. No money is being made from the creation of this material. No copyright infringement is intended.

Charlie Thomas studied his handiwork in his calculus notebook for a long moment before breaking into a grin. “Hey, I _get it_ now!” he enthused, scribbling through the rest of the calculations. He circled his answer with a bold swipe of his pencil and tipped his notebook to the side, covertly looking for reassurance that he’d solved the problem correctly.

Janine Kishi looked at his answer. “That’s correct,” she proclaimed, lifting her eyes to the top of the page in order to read through his messy calculations. She smiled. “And you solved the problem in the intended fashion.”

“Thanks, Janine!” Charlie said, pushing his free hand through his hair. “You have _no idea_ how much I appreciate you helping me with this!”

Janine averted her eyes as the smallest hint of blush colored her cheeks. The two were sitting at the long table that served as her computer desk in her bedroom. For the last few weeks, she’d been tutoring him while he waited on his younger sister, Kristy, who attended BSC meetings in her sister Claudia’s room. 

“You’re welcome,” she replied softly. “I’m happy to have helped.” 

“I mean,” Charlie barreled on, as if he hadn’t even heard her, “geometry, I get. I guess there’s just something about being able to look at figures that makes this stuff makes sense to me. But algebra? And _calculus_? Lord, I’d rather be shot!”

She looked up sharply then, not at all expecting to hear such a dramatic declaration about what was one of her personal favorite subjects. “Surely it’s not that horrid,” she remarked dryly, closing his math book with a pointed _thud_ and leaning back in her chair. 

His smile only deepened as he gazed at her. “Not when you’re explaining it,” he returned, his eyes lingering on hers for a long moment. “Seriously, Janine, you’ve totally saved me here. I actually feel like I understand this stuff, which means I won’t fail the next exam, which means I won’t flunk out of the class – and school, in general.”

Janine felt another embarrassed blush rise up the back of her neck. She wasn’t used to hearing such effusive praise, at least not from her peers. She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and pushed the bridge of her glasses up the slope of her nose. “I don’t believe that you were ever in danger of failing,” she began, only for him to cut her off again.

“Oh believe me, I was in danger, all right,” he contended. “I’d failed – or nearly failed – my last three tests. I only _barely_ passed the midterm, and things were only getting harder. I was definitely in over my head.” He leaned forward, tentatively resting his hand over hers where it lay on the flat expanse of the desk between them. “So again, _thank you_ for saving me.”

Janine was at a loss for words, a strange, shaky feeling filling the pit of her stomach as she stared at their hands. She’d thought nothing of it when Charlie had asked for her help one afternoon while he was waiting for Kristy. She’d found him sitting on their front steps, looking downright morose as he’d stared at the worn cobblestones of the front path. She’d inquired what was wrong, more out of politeness than interest, but was pleasantly surprised to find out that it was something that she could help him with. Calculus was as innate to her as breathing, so she truly hadn’t minded helping him out.

And tutoring him was completely different from tutoring Claudia. For one thing, he actually paid attention as she explained things. He asked questions, and worked on the problems, and didn’t complain about not being able to understand (her, _or_ the material they were covering). Time seemed to fly by when she was working with him.

With Claudia, on the other hand, she couldn’t help but feel as if the time was dragging by, each moment a little more painful than the last – and Claudia was struggling with algebra, a subject that came so easily to Janine that she was completely bored by it. It felt like pulling teeth to explain it in simple enough terms so that her sister could grasp the concepts.

Still, merely having an appreciative student wasn’t the cause of the butterflies currently occupying her stomach.

No, it was the fact that one of the most popular guys in the senior class was sitting there, smiling gratefully at her, his hand warm and firm on hers – _that_ had suddenly set her insides aflutter. 

She didn’t know when or how or even why it had happened. She’d known Charlie Thomas for the entirety of her life. He used to live across the street from her, and though they were never really friends or playmates, he’d always been nice to her. He’d continued being nice to her in junior high (when she was ostracized from her class after being branded a ‘know-it-all’) and high school (when she spent more time at the community college than at SHS), even after he’d moved across town when his mother remarried.

For an awkward, lonely girl who’d lived mostly in the worlds of her science books and programming manuals, it was nice to have someone treat her like an actual human being instead of an untouchable genius, too fragile to be included in such insignificant little things as family meetings and crises and even vacations.

“Janine?”

She startled from her thoughts, blinking rapidly. “Yes?”

Charlie tilted his head, furrowing his brow as he studied her. “Is everything all right?”

“Quite,” she replied quickly. “Why do you ask?”

“Well…because I was asking you about how I could possibly repay you,” he responded with a smile. “You won’t take any money – which I think is insane, by the way, because you could make out like a _bandit_ as a private tutor – so what _can_ I do for you?”

She glanced at her hand, which was still covered by his. “You don’t have to do anything,” she insisted, a warm flush rising up to coat her chest. “Really.”

“At least let me take you to dinner,” he offered.

Shock coursed down her spine. _Dinner_? Not even in her wildest dreams…!

“I couldn’t,” she sputtered, balling the hand under his into a fist as she averted her eyes to her lap.

“Oh, come on,” he wheedled, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. “Please?”

She swallowed hard, gathering every last shred of her dignity as she lifted her eyes to meet his. “You’re not afraid to be seen with me? Socially?”

He frowned. “What? No! I mean – why should I be?” He narrowed his eyes as he gazed at her. “We’re friends, aren’t we?”

 _Are we?_ she wondered silently.

“C’mon, Janine,” he cajoled. “I think you’re a lot of fun. You can even make _calculus_ fun, which is no mean feat! So c’mon, let’s go out. Tonight,” he added impulsively.

“ _Tonight_?” she gasped. It was going to take a lot longer than a few minutes for her to become comfortable with the idea of going out and being social with _anyone_ , much less him.

Of course, the longer he held her hand – he hadn’t yet let go – the harder it was to resist.

“I – can’t,” she finally managed to choke out. “Not tonight. It’s my turn to sit with Claudia while she completes her homework.”

“After?” he ventured with a smile. “Like, say, seven o’clock? Maybe if we start celebrating now, I really _will_ pass my test tomorrow!”

She studied him for a long moment, the butterflies starting to rumble in her stomach. “Why are you so insistent that it be this evening?” she mused, a tiny smile pulling at the corners of her lips.

“Because I just have this feeling,” he replied ruefully, “that if you don’t go out with me tonight, then you never will.”

Janine’s eyes widened. “Wait a minute,” she said quietly, her expression growing somber. “Are you asking me to dinner – or are you asking me _out_?”

Charlie leaned forward, grasping her free hand, so that he was holding both of her hands in his own. “Why don’t we start with dinner,” he proposed, “and see where it leads us?”

The butterflies broke free, rising up and fluttering in her chest, stealing the very breath from her lungs. Thoughts raced through the back of her mind, outpacing her ability to give them voice. As much as her regard for him had changed over the last few weeks, never did she even contemplate that he could’ve taken an interest in her. They were so different! He was so popular and friendly and easygoing…

…and good-looking…

She smiled. “All right,” she said softly. “I’ll go out with you.”

“Tonight?”

“Yes,” she confirmed, the words pouring out of her with a strange sort of calm, completely different from the way she felt on the inside – still reeling with shock at his audacity, and her own.

“Great,” he replied happily, giving both of her hands a squeeze. “That’ll give me enough time to drop Kristy off, and – ”

“Let me just confirm with Claudia our study session for this evening,” Janine broke in, making to stand. “Perhaps I can hasten it along and we will be finished within the hour.”

He reluctantly let her go. “That’d be great,” he agreed.

Janine gathered her notebooks in her arms, needing something to hang on to as she strode purposefully down the hall towards her sister’s room. Her mind was spinning, both with fear _and_ excitement. She could sense how precious this opportunity was, and she certainly wasn’t going to let Claudia inadvertently ruin it!

She knocked on Claudia’s door, just beneath the Baby-sitters Club flyer that had been pinned in the middle with a giant sunflower tack.

“Come in!” called her sister’s muffled voice.

She took a deep breath before pushing the door open and walking into the room. The giggly conversation died around her, as Claudia and her friends shared a surprised look.

“Janine, what are you doing here?” Claudia asked incredulously. “We’re in the middle of a meeting!”

“I’m aware of your organization’s schedule,” Janine replied smoothly, “but on occasion your meetings run late, and today, when it is imperative for me to be in a different location at seven o’clock, I want to insure that your meeting adjourns promptly, so that our math tutoring session will convene as we previously arranged.”

Claudia simply stared at her for a long moment. “What?” she finally asked. “Are you telling me to be on time?”

“Precisely.”

“No problem,” Claudia replied breezily.

Janine checked her watch. “Our tutorial session will convene in thirteen minutes then.” With that, she turned and walked out of the room, careful to close the door behind herself.

She leaned against her sister’s bedroom door, taking a deep breath. She hated disrupting Claudia’s club meetings almost as much as she hated listening to them from down the hall. She was jealous of her sister’s clutch of best girlfriends, something Janine herself had never had, and probably never would. 

After a long moment, Janine lifted herself and squared her shoulders. It heartened her to know that someone had finally – albeit surprisingly – taken an interest in her. 

Someone. 

A boy. 

A cute, funny, popular, brazenly _bold_ boy whom she’d known forever. He wanted to be her friend – maybe more? – and he wasn’t afraid to be seen with her out in public. He seemed to be looking _forward_ to it, in fact.

A cold realization hit her as she drew closer to her own room. What if this was all some sort of weird joke? Charlie was nice, but he was also one of the most popular guys at SHS, and with that came a lot of social power. He was good friends with some less-than-pleasant people, the sort who thrived on casual cruelness and putting others in their place. Surely he wouldn’t trick her into some big, humiliating scene –

She was startled when her door suddenly opened, and she found herself staring at him, already standing on the other side, his backpack already slung over his shoulder. “Thanks again for the help, Janine,” he said by way of greeting. “I really appreciate it.”

She blinked. “You’re welcome,” she murmured, her internal feeling of dread intensifying as he crossed her path, as if it was just another end to another tutoring session, as if he hadn’t just asked her out and turned her entire world upside down.

Had it all been some sort of weird dream?

He reached out for her then, his fingertips ghosting over her temple and down the line of her jaw. “I’ll see you later, okay?” he said with a smile, before leaning down a pressing a soft, gentle kiss to her cheek. “I’m looking forward to it,” he whispered, his breath warm against the shell of her ear.

 _So am I_ , she thought, leaning against her doorframe as he sauntered down the hall and quietly descended the stairs. _So am I_.


End file.
